1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods of and apparatus for continuously harvesting crops that are grown in rows such as grapevines and the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The copending United States patent application of F. P. Orlando and R. W. FitzMaurice, Ser. No. 95,822 filed Nov. 19, 1979, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,286,426 which issued on Sept. 1, 1981, describes and claims a vibratory fruit harvester for plants that are grown in rows such as grapevines. The harvester disclosed therein includes a vehicle having a frame adapted to straddle a row of grapevines and a shaker assembly that is pivotally mounted to the support vehicle for rotation about an axis that is parallel to and spaced above the row of crops to be harvested. The shaker assembly includes trunk striker bars that are attached to an elongated rigid frame at a height to engage the trunks and/or cordons of the plants. The striker bars are pivoted back and forth to alternately engage opposite sides of the trunks or cordons of the grapevines so that the harvester continuously harvests grapes from the grapevines as the harvester is driven down the row thereof. It is noted that the use of parallel striker bars to alternately engage opposite sides of the plants to be harvested is also shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,187,493 and 3,229,453 to Harrett.
Another type of vibratory harvester for grapevines and bushes includes fingers or rods adapted to penetrate or strike the foliage of vines or bushes to dislodge the berries or fruits therefrom. Examples of this general type of harvester are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,184,908 to Rust, U.S. Pat. No. 3,396,521 to McKibben et al, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,485,027 to Ganger.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,198,801 to Claxton discloses a method of harvesting grapevines wherein shaker elements of a harvester are positioned within the canopy of the grapevines at a level above the upper ends of the trunks thereof and on opposite sides of the fruit-bearing portion or the vines. This patent describes fruit support structures of trellis systems that have been widely used in the wine industry. According to the method and apparatus shown in this patent, elongate shaker bars are reciprocated transversely as the harvester is moved down a row so that the vines and fruit support structure associated with the row are subjected to a uniform or steady state shaking action.